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July 09, 2014

Sprint LivePro Proves Swiss Army Knife for Road Warriors

Road warriors—that special name for those valiant workers who frequently travel for business—have come to value technology tools that can do quite a bit from one comparatively simple, comparatively small platform. Saving space in luggage is a welcome development, especially as airlines start to charge for checked bags in a bid to raise cash. Sprint, meanwhile, wants to bring out a downright staggering array of new functions in its new LivePro device, and is working with ZTE to make it all happen.

The duo created the LivePro, a device that augments a smartphone in a variety of downright exciting ways to make it truly a Swiss Army Knife-style device. Not only does the LivePro serve as a pico projector—a tiny projector with a short throw distance that makes it useful in confined spaces—but it also serves as a portable wireless hotspot and, just in case the first two weren't enough, as a backup battery for the device itself.

The LivePro measures in at just 4.7 inches, and four inches of that is actually touchscreen on one face, as it runs a breed of Android to handle mobile hotspot controls and provide access to the Google Play Store for those last-minute app needs. It boasts a 5,000 mAh battery, which provides a good slug of charge for most any device, and the pico projector in question not only operates at 100 lumen of brightness (a lumen is approximately equal to the light from one candle on one square foot of area from a distance of one foot), but also offers full 1080p resolution, making it approximately a match for the centerpieces of many home theater systems.

Naturally, something like this won't come cheap, especially as it replaces three separate tools with one and causes incredible space savings. Reports suggest that the LivePro will sell for $449.99 outright, though those with Sprint accounts may be able to get in on an installment plan which will add a charge of $18.75 a month on to the $34.99 minimum charge for three gigabytes of data access. At last report, ZTE will only be selling these in Sprint stores, so getting in on the LivePro without Sprint could be tough.

This could prove to be quite a draw for Sprint customers, though it's not immediately clear that AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile customers couldn't just head into a Sprint location in order to lay hands on a LivePro for the $449.99 outright charge. That's expensive, no mistake, but for a tool that does all that and does it essentially in the palm of a user's hand? That's a large amount of value going along with that large price tag. While perhaps it would be cheaper to assemble the components to do the same thing individually, it likely wouldn't fit into this kind of package, and that's a point that's quite worth taking notice of.

Only time, of course, will tell just how well the LivePro does on shelves, but for business travelers, it's hard to see this one not being an absolute hit. Beyond the business traveler, meanwhile, it may be something of a tougher sell, but even there it's likely to have at least some impact.




Edited by Maurice Nagle


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